Seth Wallace: Iowa stuck to the game plan in shutout win vs. Illinois State

Iowa scored 34 points in a single half for the first time since 2017 during the Hawkeyes’ 40-0 season-opening win over Illinois State on Saturday.

Quarterback Cade McNamara completed 21 of 31 passing attempts for 251 yards and three touchdowns — most of which came in the second half — during his first game back since tearing his ACL last fall. Despite a slow start, the Iowa offense finished the game with 492 total yards in the shutout victory.

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“This was a game of just sticking to the plan and believing in our people, believing in what we do. And I think we did that today,” acting head coach Seth Wallace said on the field postgame. “I think that showed certainly in the second half. Just really proud of the staff, really proud of the players the way they’ve handled all of this. It really is a testament to them. They need to enjoy this.”

Iowa entered the halftime break leading 6-0 over Illinois State. The defense started the game forcing a turnovers in two of their first three drives on the field. The second saw Iowa march to withing th 15-yard-line but was forced to kick a 28-yard field goal, which was made by kicker Drew Stevens.

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The Hawkeyes received the opening kickoff of the second half, and made the most of that opportunity. In seven plays, Iowa marched 75 yards down the field in under four minutes to score their first touchdown of the season. McNamara finished the drive off with a seven-yard touchdown pass to wideout Reece Vander Lee.

“I just told them that we need to pick up the pace a little bit. Our urgency needs to improve. And the guys, they clearly responded,” Wallace said. “I’m glad we deferred [the opening kickoff] because we had the ball there in the second half and they took it down the field. That was what we were trying to do most of the game.”

A 1-0 Iowa team will now look to bottle up this momentum and use it in Week 2 during their rivalry matchup against in-state foe Iowa State. Kickoff is slated for Saturday, Sept. 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET live on CBS inside Kinnick Stadium.